Public Safety

The Food and Drug Administration is warning patients that about a potential mix-up between powerful prescription pain drugs and common over-the-counter medications like Excedrin and Gas-X made at a Novartis manufacturing plant.

ESTANCIA, N.M. (AP) — A retired Sandia Labs scientist was apparently busy building bombs and possibly a new type of explosive at a rural eastern New Mexico home before he died.

Torrance County Sheriff Heath White tells KOB-TV David O'Keefe, 81, spent his retirement on the outskirts of Estancia, 60 miles east of Albuquerque, continuing his work up until his death a few months ago.

"He was trying to make a new type of explosive, so he was experimenting with different chemicals and different compounds to make that explosive," White said.

O'Keefe's laboratory, inside a rented home, was elaborate and potentially deadly and put neighbors within a half mile in great danger, White said.

Police Beat items are compiled from public information contained in Los Alamos Police Department Records. Charges or citations listed in Police Beat do not imply innocence or guilt.
Dec. 22

9:57 p.m. – A 20-year-old Los Alamos man reported that he is the victim of identity theft. The estimated loss is unknown.

Dec. 23

1:51 p.m. – Logan Hayden, 18, of Los Alamos was arrested at Pajarito Ski Area on Camp May Road and charged with defrauding an innkeeper for having a falsified ski pass. The estimated damage is less than $2,500.

Very good, neat and very clean is how councilors Fran Berting, Geoff Rodgers and Mike Wismer described the Los Alamos County Detention Facility during a Nov. 18 inspection.

Acting Detention Supervisor Jesse Ortega and Los Alamos Police Capt. Randy Foster accompanied the councilors on the tour of the jail, which was remodeled two years ago.

Ortega has been in charge of the jail since Detention Supervisor Mary Najar retired in October.

“I’ve also worked at jails in Santa Fe and Española and I love working at the Los Alamos jail,” Ortega said. “For one thing you’re closer to the staff and also this jail has more cameras and more controls.”

WEST WINDS WILL GUST LOCALLY TO 50 MPH AT TIMES THROUGH LATE AFTERNOON... WITH WINDS SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST AND DECREASING SPEED THROUGH EVENING. EXPECT STRONGEST GUSTS OVER HILLTOPS AND SUMMITS... AND THROUGH GAPS. EXPECT GUSTY WINDS NEAR LOS ALAMOS AND WHITE ROCK... ACROSS INTERSTATE 40 NEAR TIJERAS AND EDGEWOOD... AND ACROSS EASTERN SOCORRO AND LINCOLN COUNTIES ALONG HIGHWAYS 70 AND 380... AND HIGHWAY 54.

THOSE DRIVING LARGE OR TALL VEHICLES SHOULD PREPARE FOR GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF LOSS OF CONTROL BEFORE WINDS DECREASE BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — With New Year's Eve fast approaching, Gov. Susana Martinez has a simple message: Don't get behind the wheel if you've been drinking. It's a matter of life and death.

The message has been repeated year after year by New Mexico's elected leaders, police officers, advocacy groups and families that have been ripped apart by the consequences of drunk driving. Some of those family members flanked the governor as she issued her plea along a busy Albuquerque street on Thursday night.

"There's no better example to illustrate how dire the consequences of drinking and driving than to remember the lives of those that have been lost," she said.

Wednesday, Dec. 28, the Central Avenue and 15th Street intersection will be closed to through traffic in all directions. This will be a full day closure to allow the Municipal Building Complex contractor to repair and patch previous utility trenching on Central and 15th Street.

Detour signs for both 15th Street and Central Avenue will be posted. Watch for construction equipment entering and leaving the work zone.

The following detours apply to motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians:

Wednesday, Dec. 28, the Central Avenue and 15th Street intersection will be closed to through traffic in all directions. This will be a full day closure to allow the Municipal Building Complex contractor to repair and patch previous utility trenching on Central and 15th Street.

Detour signs for both 15th Street and Central Avenue will be posted. Watch for construction equipment entering and leaving the work zone.

The following detours apply to motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians: